Aid workers abusing kids, report says

Washington Post

Published
4:00 am PDT, Wednesday, May 28, 2008

U.N. peacekeepers and international aid workers from 23 organizations have engaged in sexual exploitation of children, including some as young as 6, in Haiti, Ivory Coast and South Sudan, according to a report by Save the Children, a British aid agency.

The organization said its findings, combined with reports of similar abuse elsewhere, suggest that efforts to rein in such abuse over the past decade have failed. It concluded that sexual abuse of children - often involving exchanges of food for sex - probably occurs in virtually every post-conflict zone, and it called for creation of a global watchdog organization to probe such abuse.

The 28-page report - based on interviews with 250 children ages 10 to 17 - concluded that it is impossible to know the extent of the problem, since few victims report abuse and few U.N. agencies or private charities compile data on abuse by their personnel. Save the Children acknowledged receiving eight allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors last year by its own field staff.

"Who would we tell?" said one Haitian boy, explaining why victims seldom report the crime. "We wouldn't tell the police because they are afraid of the (U.N.) peacekeepers. ... Anyway, I've heard that the police do this."

U.N. peacekeepers have been "identified as a particular source of abuse," especially in Haiti and Ivory Coast, according to the report. But it praised the U.N. peacekeeping department for exhibiting "managerial courage and transparency" in making the allegations public.